Oriole Resources : to raise up to £1.86mln via equity sales

Proceeds are earmarked for drilling at the promising Bibemi gold project in Cameroon

Oriole Resources PLC (LON:ORR) has conditionally raised £1.576mln through a placing and share subscription with the new funds earmarked for the support of ongoing exploration activities in Cameroon.

Additionally, the company will seek to raise a further £293,000 via the NR Private Markets platform, which is operated by Minexia and is FCA regulated via authorised representative Ragnar Capital.

The monies will fund a 3,000-metre maiden drill programme at the Bibemi project, for which the drill rig is presently being mobilised. Oriole noted that early-stage work at Bibemi shows potential for new discoveries in multiple zones.

A total of 463.4mln new shares will be issued at a price of 0.34p each, a discount of around 15% from the closing market price on October 6, 2020.

The company noted that the funding supports working capital at a time where it is continuing an asset realisation programme and is also reviewing new early-stage opportunities.

'With early rock chip sampling at Bibemi returning grades up to 135.40 grammes per tonne gold and extensive trenching work having returned encouraging results, including 9 metres grading 3.14 grammes per tonne, the next logical step is to undertake a systematic drilling programme to test the vertical depth extension of the mineralisation,' John McGloin, Oriole chairman said in a statement.

'Early-stage exploration work is frequently discounted by the market from company valuations until drill intersections are available and consequently, we believe this work will help to drive shareholder value.'

Directors participated in the equity raises, taking 7.35mln shares (worth £25,000) which is on top of the share options received by directors in lieu of salary in the four months from November 2019 (in which £120,000 worth of salary was exchanged for share options).

The share issues will be accompanied by warrants, granting investors the opportunity to take additional shares at an exercise price of 0.68p over a 24-month period.

Oriole noted that the equity funding is subject to shareholder approval and a general meeting will be convened on October 27, 2020.